Headlines

Brazil's central bank ordered on Thursday the liquidation of brokerage REAG, currently known as CBSF, according to a document signed by Governor Gabriel Galipolo, in the latest fallout from the collapse of mid-sized lender Banco Master, Reuters reported. The move "was prompted by serious violations of the rules governing the activities of institutions that are part of the national financial system", the central bank said in a statement.

Germany’s state of Saxony-Anhalt will temporarily finance Domo Chemicals GmbH’s insolvent plastics production site in Leuna to prevent a potentially damaging shutdown, Bloomberg News reported. The plant, which makes plastics used in the automotive and construction sectors, will keep running at around 40% of capacity until the end of March, Christof Günther, managing director of chemical park operator InfraLeuna GmbH said Thursday, after helping to negotiate the financial lifeline with insolvency administrator Flöther & Wissing and the eastern German state.

Brazilian steel-to-energy conglomerate CSN plans to divest key assets to reduce its heavy debt burden as high interest rates squeeze financing and weigh on investment, Bloomberg News reported. The group, controlled by the billionaire Steinbruch family, has hired advisers to sell a significant stake in CSN Infraestrutura — which owns ports, railways and a logistics company — as well as control of its cement unit. The company aims to sign deals in the second half of the year.

Lenders have reported the biggest jump in credit card defaults in nearly two years, in a sign that families are struggling to weather financial pressures, The Telegraph reported. Banks experienced the largest increase in people falling behind on their credit card debts in the three final months of last year since the start of 2024, new figures show. The data from the Bank of England also showed that demand for mortgages registered the sharpest fall in two years.

Germany's troubled economy returned to modest growth last year after two years of falling output, official figures showed, as hopes rise that government spending on bridges, rail lines and defence may help end years of stagnation, EuroNews reported. The expansion in gross domestic product of 0.2% for 2025 was fueled by stronger consumer and government spending while exports sagged under the weight of more restrictive US trade policy under President Donald Trump, the German Federal Statistical Office said on Thursday. That follows shrinkage of 0.5% in 2024 and 0.9% in 2023.

A Scottish council is suing a major City investment group over claims a £40m “gamble” on a fleet of onshore wind farms backfired, The Telegraph reported. Aberdeen City Council has filed a London High Court claim against Federated Hermes, a fund manager once tied to the BT pension scheme, over allegations the group engaged in an “existential gamble” by investing its pension money in the green energy project.

Bank of England Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking Dave Ramsden said on Wednesday that the United Kingdom must adapt its financial safeguards to account for evolving risks, including the rise of stablecoins, BreakingtheNews.net reported.

For years, crypto’s most ambitious builders focused on the industry’s plumbing: faster blockchains, cleaner smart contracts, better protocol economics. But a growing number of projects are now stepping away from the base layer and into something far more familiar to everyday users: payments, cards and neobank-like services, CoinDesk.com reported. The shift reflects a broader realization inside crypto: while protocols matter, adoption tends to follows utility.

Canadian home sales posted an annual decline last year as sales and prices fell in December, data from the Canadian Real Estate Association showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. Home sales fell 2.7% in December from November, while they were down 4.5% year-over-year without seasonal adjustment. For 2025, sales decreased 1.9% from the previous year to 470,314 units. The economic shock of U.S. tariffs pushed buyers to the sidelines in the first quarter, CREA said.

The International Monetary Fund's latest economic forecasts due next week will show ​the global economy's continued resilience to ‌trade shocks and "fairly strong" growth, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters on Thursday. In an interview during a visit to Kyiv to discuss ‌the IMF's loan to Ukraine, Georgieva ​would not say specifically whether the IMF would again revise its forecasts slightly upward as ‍the World Bank did this week. In October, the IMF revised upward its 2025 global GDP growth forecast ⁠slightly to 3.2% from 3.0% in ‍July as the drag from U.S.